Mouth-watering: The Sweet Meadow provides a range of tasty treats. Photo supplied by Aishe Besim
Diets are nothing new for anyone who has lived any sort of adult existence and quite often people will abstain from alcohol to bring awareness to a cause.
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This January, many people are opting to try the vegan challenge, which is run under the banner of non-profit organisation Veganuary.
There are some huge names behind the program, with Academy Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix (Joker, Gladiator and Walk The Line), Beatle Paul McCartney and Australian cricket great Jason Gillespie all ambassadors.
The Veganuary website encourages people to consider a plant-based diet for at least one month “as a way of protecting the environment, preventing animal suffering, and improving the health of millions of people”.
Aishe Besim opened plant-based cafe The Sweet Meadow in Echuca in 2016.
She felt there was a gap in the market for plant-based food in rural towns.
“I just felt like this kind of food was missing from regional Victoria,” Ms Besim said.
“Five years on, there’s still not a lot of fully vegan cafes in regional Victoria, but the demand’s there.”
As to why someone would consider going vegan, Ms Besim said the number one reason was probably health benefits.
Veganuary promoter: Aishe Besim says a vegan challenge for January is something people should consider. Photo: Luke Hemer
Photo by
Luke Hemer
“You just seem to have more antioxidants, or more minerals, when you are on a plant-based diet, but the environmental benefits are really strong as well,” she said.
Ms Besim said people were growing increasingly concerned with their health and were actively wanting to be educated on where their food was coming from.
“Plant-based or vegan isn’t perfect. Some of the milks use more water to grow than others and that’s a conversation that customers are having with us now,” she said.
Still, many meat-eaters have strong opinions on vegan food, with some suggesting it is flavourless, boring and makes you weak or unwell from the lack of protein.
“The biggest misconception I hear is, ‘sorry I can’t eat here, I just need something a bit more filling’,” Ms Besim said.
“You do actually feel so full from plant-based foods because most of the time it’s carb or protein-based.”
“I feel like sometimes people think they’re just going to get a salad or something, which is not the case.”
If you can’t commit to a month of plant-based eating, Ms Besim suggests starting by just trying to swap out one meal a day.
“Breakfast is a good one to start. Swap meat out for oats or something like a corn fritter or a smoothie. That’s a nice way to ease you way into it,” she said.
The 2021 Veganuary campaign saw more than 582,000 people from around the world step up to the challenge, while 57 major companies signed up to take the vegan workplace challenge.
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